Darning attachment



March 27, 1962 J. P. ENOS DARNING ATTACHMENT Filed Jan. 5, 1960 INVENTOR John Enos BY 72% Al roRlvEY err t '1;

3,@2,337, Patented Mar. 27, 1962 3,026,837 DARNING ATTACHMENT John P. Enos, Union, N.J., assignor to The Singer Manu= facturing Company, Elizabeth, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Jan. 5, 1960, Ser. No. 614 4 Claims. (Cl. 112-236) This invention relates to sewing machines and more particularly to a darning attachment having a clear plastic foot portion, and one of the primary objects of the present invention is to provide an improved attachment of this character.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved means for securing the plastic foot portion of a darning attachment to a movable metallic portion of the same attachment.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, the invention comprises the devices, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawings of a preferred embodiment of the invention, from which the several features of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

FIG 1 is a left side elevational view of a portion of a sewing machine equipped with a darning attachment embodying the present invention,

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the parts shown in FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of FIG. 1, and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of portions of the attachment illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, inclusive.

The darning attachment illustrated is shown associated with a sewing machine having a presser bar 16 slidably mounted in a bushing 17 and a reciprocatory needle bar 18, the lower end of which carries a needle 19 held in position by a needle clamp 21 having a clamping screw 22. The lower end of the presser bar 16 carries a thumb screw 23 which removably attaches a socket portion 24 of a darning attachment 26 to the lower end of the presser bar 16. From the portion 24 there extends a bar 27 which at its other end is formed integral with the lower end of a U-shaped standard having an upright reach 28, a lower arm 29, and an upper arm 31. Between the arms 29 and 31 there is fixed a stem 32 having a shoulder 33. A U-shaped slide 34 having a spanner 36, a lower finger 37, and an upper finger 38, is slidably mounted on the stem 32 by reason of the fingers 37 and 38 being apertured to accommodate the stem 32. In order to bias the slide 34 toward its lowermost position, a helical spring 41, which surrounds the stem 32, has one of its ends abutting the shoulder 33 and the other of its ends abutting the upper surface of the lower finger 37. The free end of the lower finger 37 is formed integral with the upper end of a rail 42 and one edge of the rail 42 is formed integral with one end of a horizontal metallic arm 43. The slide 34 also carries a substantially Z-shaped lever 44 adapted to be engaged by a portion of the needle clamp 21 everytime the needle bar 18 is raised. Thus, each time the needle clamp 21 is raised the lever 44 raises the slide 34 against the bias of the spring 41. This of course also raises the rail 42, the arm 43 and a darning foot presently to be described.

The horizontal metallic arm 43 is provided with a depending tongue 57, the arm 43 having a threaded hole 58 and the tongue 57 having a threaded hole 59. A clear plastic darning foot 61 is secured to the arm 43 and the tongue 57 by means of two screws 63 and 64. The screw 63 passes through an unthreaded hole 68 in the foot 61 and enters the threaded hole 58. The screw 64 passes through an unthreaded hole 69 also in the foot 61 and enters the threaded hole 59. In addition to this, the shank 72 of the foot 61 is shaped and formed to receive the arm 43 and the tongue 57. To this end, the shank 72 is formed with a thin section 73 and thick section 74, it being noted that both holes 68 and 69 are formed in the thin section 73. The thick section 74 is formed with an open faced groove 76 of exactly the proper size and shape to receive the tongue 57. The groove 76 is open at the top and on the front side and the groove 76 is bounded at the rear by the thin plastic portion of the section 73 through which passes the hole 69 and on its two sides and bottom by the thick plastic section 74. The upper front portion of the thick section 74 forms plateaus 77 and '78 which are engaged by the lower edges 82 and 81 of the arm 43. The lower end of the thick section 74 of the shank 72 is formed integral with a sole plate 83 formed with an elongate needle receiving hole 84. r

The above described construction is advantageous for several reasons. In the first place the clear plastic darning foot 61 permits the operator to obtain a clear view of the work being darned. Second, the specific connection between the metallic arm 43, the metallic tongue 57, and the plastic darning foot 61 is especially designed to prevent breakage of the foot 61.

Having thus described the nature of the invention, what I claim herein is:

1. A darning attachment comprising a first member; means for removably securing said first member to the presser-bar of a sewing machine; a metallic arm movably mounted on and resiliently biased with respect to said first member; a tongue depending from said arm, both said arm and said tongue being provided with a threaded hole; an L-shaped clear plastic darning foot formed with a horizontal sole plate portion and an upright shank portion for supporting said sole plate portion, said upright shank portion having a lower thick section defining an open faced groove of such size and shape as to receive said tongue and the upper end of said shank portion terminating in a thin section and said thin section extending downwardly to close one face of said groove; and a pair of screws passing through said plastic foot, one of said screws entering the threaded hole in the metallic arm, and the other screw entering the threaded hole in the said metallic tongue.

2. A darning attachment comprising a first member; means adapted for removably securing said first member to the presser-bar of a sewing machine; a metallic arm movably mounted on and resiliently biased with respect to said first member; a tongue depending from said arm, both said arm and said tongue being provided with a threaded hole; an L-shaped clear plastic darning foot, having an apertured thin section, a thick section and an apertured sole plate, the thick section defining an open faced groove of such size and shape as to receive the said metallic tongue; and a pair of screws, one screw passing through a portion of the thin section to enter the threaded hole in the metallic arm, and the other screw passing through another portion of said thin section to enter the threaded hole in the said metallic tongue.

3. A darning attachment comprising a first member; means adapted for removably securing said first member to the presser-bar of a sewing machine; a metallic arm movably mounted on and resiliently biased with respect to said first member; a tongue depending from said arm at a location spaced from the free end of said arm and thereby defining a pair of lower edges, one edge on each side of said tongue and both said arm and said tongue being provided with a threaded hole; a clear plastic darning foot, having an apertured thin section, a thick section and an apertured sole plate, the thick section defining an open faced groove of such size and shape as to receive the said metallic tongue; a pair of plateaus formed on the upper end of said thick section, said plateaus being positioned to engage the lower edges of said metallic arm; and a pair of screws one passing through one aperture in the thin section to enter the threaded hole in the metallic arm, and the other passing through another portion of said thin section to enter the threaded hole in the said metallic tongue.

4. A darning attachment comprising a first member; means for removably securing said first member to the presser-bar of a sewing machine; a metallic arm movably mounted on and resiliently biased with respect to said first member; a tongue depending from said arm, both said arm and said tongue being provided with a threaded hole; an L-shaped clear plastic darning foot having an apertured plastic sole plate and a plastic shank, said shank being secured to said metallic arm and metallic tongue by reason of having a thick plastic portion and a thin plastic portion, the thick plastic portion defining an open faced groove of such size and shape as to receive the said metallic tongue and said groove being open at the top,

and at one side, and bounded on one side by the thin plastic portion and bounded on two other sides and the bottom by the thick plastic portion, and said thin plastic portion being formed with two holes, one of said holes being in the thin plastic portion which bounds the open faced groove and the other of said holes being in the thin plastic portion above the uppermost part of the thick plastic portion; and a pair of screws one passing through the hole in the thin plastic portion above the thick plastic portion to enter the threaded hole in the metallic arm, and the other passing through the thin plastic portion which bounds said open faced groove to enter the threaded hole in the said metallic tongue.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 183,390 Johnson Aug. 19, 1958 1,943,254 Barron Jan. 9, 1934 1,981,837 Hemleb Nov. 20, 1934 2,652,016 Enos Sept. 15, 1953 2,814,266 Marshall Nov. 26, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,025,632 France Jan. 28, 1953 944,163 Germany June 7, 1956 

